European Parliament Member Launches Campaign to Stop Sex-Selection Abortion 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 2, 2008
Brussels, Belgium (LifeNews.com) — A member of the European Parliament is launching a new campaign to expose the worldwide practice of sex-selection abortions. Conservative MEP Nirj Deva also wants to root out government funding of abortions in developing countries where the practices have skewed the male-female ratio.
Deva says sexual discrimination in abortions has cost the world 60 million women.
The Conservative International Development Spokesman wants more disclosure by the European Commission of the funding for such abortions.
"I am determined to expose the scandalous practice of gender selected abortion," Deva said in a statement LifeNews.com obtained.
Deva said his campaign is based on the UNFPA’s State of the World Population Report last year showing a global deficit of 60 million women in the world, which is equivalent to the population of the United Kingdom.
“I am demanding a gender analysis on every abortion funded by European taxpayers and for the European Parliament to be regularly informed of the results," Deva explained.
He condemned the Socialists and other left-wing political parties that have been reluctant to support his call for transparency.
“Gender selected abortion is the most significant cause of injustice against women in the world today – removing the basic right to life," Deva added. "Our campaign in the European Parliament is for the EU to monitor the extent to which it is funding gender-selected abortions in the developing world. We are expecting ferocious opposition."
Deva said other international leaders are recognizing the problem and point to a statement from Ban ki-Moon, in his opening address to the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
"Through the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless [women] are denied the right even to exist," ki-Moon noted.
Deva’s campaign announces follows a new report showing Asian Americans in the United States are bringing their cultural preference for boys with them. They have engaged in enough sex-selection abortions in the U.S. to slightly skew the gender ratio among Asian American children.
